And so without fanfare or a drum roll, the end of another year crept up on most of us. With so much happening around us what with money that is not really money, weather extremes, spectacular business growth on the one hand and just as spectacular business disasters on the other… We will ignore all that if we can for a few minutes and carry on from where we left off last time.

Previously we looked at the breakdown of the Occupational Health and Safety Act (Act 85 of 1993) and the various groups of Regulations stemming from that Act.

The first group of Regulations we looked at in broad strokes was the so called “General Regulations”. In this group we find the Environmental Regulations for Workplaces, 1987, the Facilities Regulations, 1990, the General Administrative Regulations, 2003 and the General Health and Safety Regulations, 1986.

The next group we will take a look at is the so called “Health related regulations”.

The Health related regulations group consists of:

Asbestos Regulations, 2001

1. Definitions2. Scope of applicationThese Regulations shall apply to every employer and self-employed person who carries out work at a workplace that may expose any person to asbestos dust at that workplace3. Notification of asbestos work4. Exposure to asbestos5. Information and training6. Duties of persons who may be exposed7. Assessment of potential exposure8. Air monitoring9. Medical surveillance10. Respirator zone11. Control of exposure to asbestos12. Cleanliness of premises and plant13. Control of exposure to asbestos of persons other than employees14. Asbestos that forms part of structure of workplace, building, plant or premises15. Asbestos cement sheeting and related products16. Records17. Personal protective equipment and facilities18. Maintenance of control measures19. Labeling, packaging, transportation and storage20. Disposal of asbestos21. Demolition22. Prohibition23. Offences and penalties24. Repeal of regulations25. Short title

Next we get the Hazardous Biological Agent Regulations, 2001

1. Definitions2. Scope of application (1) These regulations shall apply to every employer and self-employed person at a workplace where: a) HBA is deliberately produced, processed, used, handled, stored or transported; or b) an incident, for which an indicative list is given in Annexure A to this Regulation occurs that does not involve a deliberate intention to work with a HBA but may result in persons being exposed to HBA in the performance of his or her work.(2) Regulations 8, 14, 15, 16 and 17 shall not apply to an employer or self-employed person at a workplace where the exposure is restricted to a Group I HBA.3. Classification of biological agents4. Information and training5. Duties of persons who might be exposed to HBA6. Risk assessment by employer or self-employed person7. Monitoring exposure at workplace8. Medical surveillance9. Records10. Control of exposure to HBA11. Personal protective equipment and facilities12. Maintenance of control measures, equipment and facilities13. Prohibitions14. Labelling, packaging, transporting and storage15. Special measures for health and veterinary isolation facilities16. Special measures for laboratories, animal rooms and industrial processes17. Disposal of HBA18. Offences and penalties19. Short titleAnnexure A: Indicative list of incidentsAnnexure B: Hazardous biological agents guidelinesAnnexure C: Precautions for workplacesAnnexure D: PrecautionsAnnexure E: Indications concerning containment measures and containment levelsAnnexure F: Containment for industrial processes

We now move on to the Hazardous Chemical Substances Regulations, 1995

1. Definitions2. Scope of application (1) Subject to the provisions of sub-regulation (2), these regulations shall apply to an employer or a self-employed person who carries out work at a workplace which may expose any person to the intake of an HCS at the workplace.(2) The provisions of regulations 3(1), 6 and 7 shall not apply to:(a) a self-employed person; or(b) a person who visits a workplace as contemplated in subregulation (1).(3) The provisions of these regulations shall not apply in the case where the Lead Regulations and Asbestos Regulations apply.3. Information and training4. Duties of persons who may be exposed to hazardous chemical substances5. Assessment of potential exposure6. Air monitoring7. Medical surveillance8. Respirator zone9. Records9A. Handling of hazardous chemical substances10. Control of exposure to HCS11. Personal protective equipment and facilities12. Maintenance of control measures13. Prohibitions14. Labelling, packaging, transportation and storage15. Disposal of hazardous chemical substances16. Offences and Penalties17. Short titleAnnexure 1: Hazardous chemical substances guidelinesAnnexure 2: Calculation of exposure with regard to the specified reference periodsAnnexure 3: Methods of measurement and calculation for determining fibre concentrations of manmade mineral fibreAnnexure 4: Cotton DustAnnexure 5: AsphyxiantsAnnexure 6: Rubber fume and rubber process dustAnnexure 7: The definition of Grain DustAnnexure 8: Material safety data sheet

Next we get the Lead Regulations, 2001

1. Definitions2. Scope of application(1) Subject to subregulation (2), these regulations shall apply to every employer and self-employed person at a workplace where lead is produced, processed, used, handled or stored in a form in which it can be inhaled, ingested or absorbed by any person in that workplace.(2) Regulations 4(1), 4(2), 4(3), 4(4), 4(6), 6(2), 7, 8, 10(c), 10(d), 10(f), 11(2)(f) and 12(6) shall not apply in the case of self-employed persons.3. Exposure to airborne lead4. Information and training5. Duties of persons who may be exposed6. Assessment of potential exposure7. Air monitoring8. Medical surveillance9. Respirator zone10. Records11. Control of exposure to lead12. Personal protective equipment and facilities13. Cleanliness of premises and plant14. Maintenance of control measures15. Prohibitions16. Labelling, packaging, transportation and storage17. Disposal of lead waste18. Offences and penalties19. Repeal of regulations20. Short titleAnnexure A to D: Blood and Urinary Lead Levels

And finally in this group the Noise Induced Hearing Loss Regulations, 2003

1. Definitions2. Scope of applicationThese regulations shall apply to an employer or self-employed person who, at any workplace under his or her control, carries out work that may expose any person at that workplace to noise at or above the noise-rating limit.3. Exposure to noise4. Information and training5. Duties of persons who may be exposed to noise6. Assessment of potential noise exposure7. Noise monitoring8. Medical surveillance9. Noise zone10. Control of noise exposure11. Record12. Hearing protective equipment13. Maintenance of control measures14. Offences and penalties15. Withdrawal of regulations

I trust you have learned something. The intention was not at this time to go into detail, but rather look at the section headings to get the overall picture of the Regulations. And quite frankly, just reading the section titles of the biological and chemical Regulations gives rise to thoughts of a very scary science fiction movie storyline... These summaries will come in handy at some point, trust me…